


Old Glory

by orphan_account



Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: 500 words, Character Study, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-14
Updated: 2014-07-14
Packaged: 2018-02-08 19:45:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 501
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1953861
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A 500 word study on America using his bomber jacket.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Old Glory

**Author's Note:**

> This is the first entry in a new series I'm starting. It is a character study that centers around one of America's most distinguishing features - his jacket.  
> Song inspiration: "America" by Imagine Dragons

It’s a tattered old thing, really.

The collar is littered with bare spots from decades of the boy incessantly picking at the black faux fur. There are permanent burger grease stains at the sleeve ends. The current zipper pull is a cartoonish eagle that the boy could’ve only obtained from some pre-teen girl’s charm bracelet. The leather is so faded he cannot ascertain what shade of brown was the original shade of brown. It hasn’t fitted him properly since Hoover’s inauguration. It definitely should’ve been discarded after FDR’s third. He bets it hasn’t been washed properly since the dry cleaning incident of ’69.

But the boy continues to wear it.

The sewn on patches are another issue. He’s certain one could see from space the not-so-faint outlines of 4, 8 and 9 underneath the 5 and 0 on the back. The yellow star is a recent addition and hasn’t warranted replacing yet, as far as he knows, though it’s been newly adorned with a stain that looks remarkably like strawberry milkshake. Unlike the star, the airplane has required changing around nearly every election season; he wonders how the sleeve is stable enough through which to draw a needle. Later, he discovers the boy has smartly sewn a reinforcement fabric swatch into the interior.

Credit where credit is due, he supposes.

But the truly remarkable patches are the ones most can’t see. The POW/MIA symbol is located underneath the grungy collar, closest to the boy’s head so he can “keep these soldiers in mind.” The logos of each military branch are lined down the right sleeve where they brush his arm as he salutes during the Pledge of Allegiance. As clichéd as it may seem, his national flag is sewn securely on the front left side where it rests against his heart.

He vehemently denies holding the jacket–and the boy–in higher regard after learning these tidbits.

The pockets aren’t empty, oh, no. Necessities include a pair of leather gloves, a container of breath mints and at least four flavors of chewing gum. He thinks the boy would argue that the ludicrously bulky set of keys so heavy it weighs down whichever pocket it occupies is also essential, though they both very well know the constant Secret Service shadow would provide the boy access to anything he’d ever want or need. 

It doesn’t help that at least three miniature Eiffel Tower replicas are hanging from the strained ring (along with what he suspects is the key to the frog’s summer estate in Nice).

Everything about the leather and fur, patches and thread, gum wrappers and keys, receipts and business cards encompasses the identity of the boy, as a country and definitely as a person. They symbolize strength, determination, aspiration and so much more. He’s quite proud, though he knows he has little right to be other than that the tyrannical empire he formerly represented probably unintentionally forged a spirit as resilient as the jacket.

It’s a splendid thing, really.

**_Fin_ **

**Author's Note:**

> For the record, only two of the mini tower replicas are Eiffel Towers - the other is Tokyo Tower which is unremarkably similar to Eiffel's considering it was based off of it. America and Japan are really close, y'know. And in America's defense, there are _at least_ four mini Big Bens on that hulk of keys.
> 
> Also, the key England mentions is not actually to an estate in Nice, anything in France or anything even owned by France; it's the key to one of _Canada's_ homes in Ontario. My headcanon says the brothers are so close, they are allowed to use vacation homes in each other's land at their leisure. The only reason England's panties are in a twist is because it's the only key with French engravings, which was done on purpose at America's insistence to stir the pot since that's just what the hero does.


End file.
